Rate-adaptive multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) systems

ABSTRACT

A rate-adaptive method of communicating over a multipath wireless communication system uses multiple links such that each end of a link uses multiple transmit and receive antennas. A number of independent streams that are to be transmitted for each link is determined based on an overall system performance measure. In addition, the system may also jointly determine the best modulation, coding, power control, and frequency assignment for each link, based on an overall system performance measure. In OFDM systems, the number of independent streams, as well as the modulation, coding, and power control, may be determined on a tone-by-tone basis based on an overall system performance measure.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of patent application Ser. No.11/386,891 filed Mar. 22, 2006, which is a continuation of patentapplication Ser. No. 10/356,349, filed Jan. 31, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No.7,058,367.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to cellular wireless communications and,in particular, to rate-adaptive Multiple Input/Multiple Output (MIMO)communication techniques using multiple transmit and multiple receiveantennas.

2. Background of the Related Art

There is an ever-increasing demand for high-speed wireless dataservices. The present invention increases the data rate of a high-speedwireless data service operating in a multipath environment. Increases inthe data rate result in cost reductions as a result of the ability toprovide the enhanced service (data rate) with the same bandwidth(spectrum) rather than having to consume additional bandwidth(spectrum).

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a rate-adaptive Multiple Input/MultipleOutput (MIMO) communications system and technique for cellular wirelesscommunications systems using multiple transmit and multiple receiveantennas. It is assumed herein that in a cellular wireless network, eachbase station employs multiple antennas for transmitting and receiving,and so does every mobile station. The techniques presented here,however, can also be used in a mixed network, where both single-antennabase stations and/or mobiles exist with multiple-antenna base stationsand mobiles. For the purpose of simplicity, the rate-adaptive MIMOcommunication technique of the present invention is mainly describedherein in terms of a downlink, i.e., the situation in which a basestation transmits signals to a mobile station. The same technique can beapplied to an uplink, i.e., the situation in which a mobile stationtransmits signals to a base station. The cell to which the base stationand the mobile station belong is referred to herein as the studied cell.The number of antennas on the base station and on the mobile station isM. The data transmitted between the base station and the mobile stationare organized into frames. The time duration for a frame is called atime slot. In a time slot, a station, whether a base station or a mobilestation, may simultaneously transmit multiple frames using multipletransmit antennas. The symbol sequence in a frame is also called asignal or a stream.

In a system with multiple (e.g., M) transmit and receive antennas, thecapacity of a given link between a base station and mobile station isalways maximized by transmitting using MIMO to transmit M signalsbetween the base station and mobile. (This may not strictly be true forthe throughput, though, if only a finite number of modulation/codingschemes can be used for each signal.) The overall systemthroughput/capacity, however, may not be maximized by transmitting Msignals—fewer than M signals can give higher results. Therefore, thepresent invention uses an overall system measure, such as totalthroughput, in determining the number of signals used on a given link.Other performance measurements can also be used.

A first embodiment of the present invention is provided by arate-adaptive method of communicating over a multipath wirelesscommunication system, in which the wireless communication system hasmultiple links and each end of a link uses multiple transmit and receiveantennas. The method includes a step of determining a number ofindependent streams that are to be transmitted for each link based on anoverall system performance measure, such as an overall system throughputover all links, an Signal-to-Interference-and-Noise Ratio (SINR) for atleast one link, a minimum mean-squared error for at least one link, acalculated data rate for at least one link, a minimum of a maximum delayfor at least one link, and/or a maximum of a minimum data rate for eachlink. In this regard, the system measures performance of at least onelink, determines an appropriate modulation for the link (based on anoverall system performance measure), which includes an adaptivemodulation, such as BPSK modulation or QPSK modulation, and can includeadaptive forward error correction (FEC) coding. Additionally, the systemcan use a dynamic channel assignment technique that is based on anoverall system throughput, a maximum delay and/or a minimum data rate.Further, the system can use adaptive power control over at least onelink. Further still, the technique can be applied to OrthogonalFrequency Division Modulation (OFDM), where the MIMO can be adjusted ona tone-by-tone basis. Note that the number of MIMO signals is jointlydetermined with the modulation, coding, and power control, and on atone-by-tone basis with OFDM.

A second embodiment of the present invention provides a rate-adaptivemethod of communicating over a wireless communication system thatincludes a first station having multiple transmit antennas and multiplereceive antennas and a second station having multiple transmit antennasand multiple receive antennas. A signal is transmitted in a first framefrom the first station to the second station using one of a singletransmit antenna of the first station and multiple transmit antennas ofthe first station with transmission diversity. A second frame isreceived from the second station at the first station. The second frameincludes an indication that at least one additional signal should betransmitted in the third frame. According to the invention, theindication received in the second frame is based on an overall systemperformance measure, such as an overall system throughput, a minimum ofa maximum delay for all links in the wireless communication system, amaximum of a minimum data rate for all links in the wirelesscommunication system, an SINR associated with the first frame, and aminimum mean-square error associated with the first frame. Apredetermined number of signals is transmitted in the third frame fromthe first station to the second station when the second frame includesthe automatic retransmission request instruction. The predeterminednumber of signals is transmitted using a corresponding predeterminednumber of transmit antennas of the first station and is based on theindication received from the second station that at least one additionalsignal should be transmitted in the third frame. A fourth frame isreceived from the second station at the first station. The fourth frameincludes an indication of a number of signals that should be transmittedfrom the first station to the second station in a fifth frame in acontrol sequence of the fourth frame. The fourth frame can include anindication of a modulation method that is to be used for each signaltransmitted in the fifth frame. Alternatively, the fourth frame caninclude an indication of a coding scheme that is to be used for eachsignal transmitted in the fifth frame. As yet another alternative, thefourth frame can include an indication of a coding rate that is to beused for each signal transmitted in the fifth frame. Each step isrepeated continuously from the step of receiving the second frame stepto the step of receiving the fourth frame when a number of transmittedsignals in the frame transmitted from the first station to the secondstation is one. Otherwise, each step is repeated from transmitting thepredetermined number of signals to the step of receiving the fourthframe.

For the second embodiment of the present invention, when the firststation is a base station and the second station is a mobile station,the first, third and fifth frames are downlink frames and the second andfourth frames are uplink frames. When the first station is a mobilestation and the second station is a base station, the first, third andfifth frames are uplink frames and the second and fourth frames aredownlink frames.

A third embodiment of the present invention provides a rate adaptivemethod of communicating over a wireless communication system thatincludes a first station having multiple transmit antennas and multiplereceive antennas and a second station having multiple transmit antennasand multiple receive antennas. A signal is received at the first stationfrom the second station using all of the receive antennas of the firststation for CCI suppression. A best weight for each receive antenna iscomputed at the first station based on the received signal. A compositesignal is generated that is based on a weighted summation of allreceived signals, such that each respective received signal is receivedby a receive antenna of the first station. The composite signal isdecoded for obtaining a payload sequence, a CRC sequence, and a controlsequence contained in the composite signal. An automatic retransmissionrequest instruction is set in a control sequence of a second frame toindicate a third frame should be transmitted from the second stationwhen the decoded CRC sequence matches the CRC sequence computed from thedecoded payload sequence. At least one index is set corresponding toeach signal sequence for retransmission in the automatic retransmissionrequest instruction in the control sequence of the second frame when thedecoded CRC sequence does not match the CRC sequence computed from thedecoded payload sequence. It is then determined whether at least oneadditional signal should be transmitted by the first station in thethird frame based on an overall system performance measure. The secondframe is transmitted from the first station to the second station. Thesecond frame includes an indication of the determination whether atleast one additional signal should be transmitted from the secondstation in the third frame. According to the invention, the indicationtransmitted in the second frame is based on an overall systemperformance measure, such as an overall system throughput, a minimum ofa maximum delay for all links in the wireless communication system, amaximum of a minimum data rate for all links in the wirelesscommunication system, an SINR associated with the first frame, and aminimum mean-square error associated with the first frame. Apredetermined number of transmitted signals in the third frame isreceived at the first station using a corresponding predetermined numberof the receive antennas of the first station. The predetermined numberof signals is based on the indication transmitted in the second frame. Abest weight for each receive antenna for the predetermined number ofreceived signals is computed at the first station. A composite signal isgenerated that is based on a weighted summation of a predeterminednumber of all received signals. Each respective received signal of thepredetermined number of received signals is received from a receiveantenna of the first station. The composite signal that is based on theweighted summation of the predetermined number of all received signalsis decoded for obtaining a payload sequence, a CRC sequence, and acontrol sequence contained in the composite signal that is based on theweighted summation of the predetermined number of signals. An automaticretransmission request instruction is set in a control sequence in afourth frame to indicate a fifth frame should be transmitted when thedecoded CRC sequence matches the CRC sequence computed from the decodedpayload sequence of the composite signal. At least one index is setcorresponding to each signal sequence that should be retransmitted inthe automatic retransmission request instruction in the control sequenceof the fourth frame when the decoded CRC sequence of the compositesignal does not match the CRC sequence computed from the decoded payloadsequence contained in the composite signal that is based on thepredetermined number of weighted signals. A predetermined number ofsignals that should be transmitted from the second station in the fifthframe is estimated at the first station. The estimated number of signalsto be transmitted in the fifth frame is transmitted from the firststation to the second station in a control sequence of the fourth frame.Each step is continuously repeated from the step of receiving a signalat the first station from the second station using all of the receiveantennas of the first station for CCI suppression to the step oftransmitting the estimated number of signals that are to be transmittedin the fifth frame. Otherwise, each step is continuously repeated fromthe step of computing at the first station a best weight for eachreceive antenna for the predetermined number of received signals to thestep of transmitting the estimated number of signals that are to betransmitted in the fifth frame.

For the third embodiment of the present invention, when the firststation is a base station and the second station is a mobile station,the first, third and fifth frames are downlink frames and the second andfourth frames are uplink frames. When the first station is a mobilestation and the second station is a base station, the first, third andfifth frames are uplink frames and the second and fourth frames aredownlink frames.

The present invention also provides a station in a multipath wirelesscommunication system that includes at least one link between the stationand at least one other station. The station includes multiple receiveantennas and multiple transmit antennas. At least one receive antennareceives a signal from at least one other station indicating apredetermined number of independent streams that are to be transmittedover a link between the station and the other station. The number ofindependent streams is based on an overall system performance measure.At least one transmit antenna transmits the predetermined number ofindependent signals over the link to the other station. The systemperformance measure is based on, for example, an overall systemthroughput, a SINR for at least one link in the communication system, aminimum mean-square error for at least one link in the communicationsystem, a calculated data rate for at least one link in thecommunication system, a minimum of a maximum delay for at least one linkin the communication system, a maximum of a minimum data rate for atleast one link of the communication system. Further, at least onereceive antenna receives at least one independent stream over a linkfrom the other station, and at least one transmit antenna transmits asignal to the other station indicates a second predetermined number ofindependent streams that are to be transmitted over the link to thestation from the other station. The second number of independent streamsthat are to be transmitted over the link to the station from the otherstation is based on the overall system performance measure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not bylimitation in the accompanying figures in which like reference numeralsindicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is an exemplary cellular network that employs a rate-adaptiveMIMO communications technique according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary frame structure for both the uplink and downlinkframes that can be used for a rate-adaptive MIMO communicationstechnique according to the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a graph showing the normalized potential capacity of arate-adaptive MIMO system according to the present invention using fourtransmit antennas and four receive antennas relative to a single antennasystem;

FIG. 3B is a graph showing the capacity distribution function (CDF) of atested rate-adaptive MIMO system according to the present invention as afunction of the normalized capacity;

FIG. 4 shows a rate-adaptive MIMO system test bed according to thepresent invention including a mobile station having four transmitantennas and a base station having four receive antennas;

FIG. 5 is a graph of test results showing the amplitudes for the 16signals (data streams) between the four transmit and four receiveantennas with a 1 second average and in which channel powers areapproximately equal for dual-polarized transmit and receive antennas;

FIG. 6A shows multiple graphs for the test results obtained forpedestrian-based test routes;

FIG. 6B shows multiple graphs for the test results obtained for thedriving-based test routes; and

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary rate-adaptive MIMO system architectureaccording to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a system and method for communicatingover a wireless communication system having multiple links in which eachlink uses multiple transmit and receive antennas. Such a system operatesin a multipath environment and, according to the present invention, thedata rate is determined by the number of independent streams of datathat are transmitted, such that the number of independent streams isbased on overall system performance. Overall system performance ismeasured using any of a number of standard measurements, for example(but not limited to) a mean-square error for each link, overall systemthroughput, average signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) foreach link, a calculated data rate for each link, minimum of a maximumdelay, and maximum of a minimum data rate for each link.

A mean-squared error for a link is a mathematical scalar that iscalculated in a well-known manner between a known training sequence andthe received version of the training sequence (containing noise). Forexample, consider a training sequence of [1, 2, 3], and a receivedversion of the training sequence of [0.9, 2.1, 2.9]. The mean-squarederror between the training sequence and the received version is(1−0.9)²+(2−2.1)²+(3−0.9)²=0.03. The present invention provides thatdifferent MIMO rates and other communication parameters can be chosenfor each link, so the received version performance can vary accordingly.The best rate and other parameters can be determined by choosing therate and parameters such that the mean-squared error is a minimum.

A calculated data rate for a link as a performance measure, as usedherein, is defined as follows. As a data rate over a link increases, thepossibility the data may contain errors also increases. In order toachieve the best performance over a link, the data rate should be ashigh as possible, but the transmission error rate should, at the sametime, be within specified acceptable limits. Thus, the phrase“calculated data rate”, as used herein, means the selected MIMO rate.

A minimum of a maximum delay for a link performance measure relates to ascheduling algorithm at a base station. Typically, a base station needsto serve many mobile stations, some of which are operating under goodreceiving conditions while others not. A simple way for optimizing theoverall system throughput performance is to not transmit data to mobilestations that are operating under a bad receiving condition.Nevertheless, sometimes it is difficult to avoid transmitting to themobile stations operating under bad receiving conditions because servicerequirement dictate that the mobile station be serviced. A variety ofother optimization criteria have been proposed, which includetransmitting data to a mobile station operating under a bad receivingcondition only once a while. From the system point-of-view, the maximumdelay for such transmission is minimized; hence, a minimum of a maximumdelay performance measure.

A maximum of a minimum data rate for a link is also a performancemeasure that relates to a scheduling algorithm at a base station. Aspreviously mentioned, one system-wise optimization goal is formaximizing the overall system throughput. Under such a goal, mobilestations operating under bad receiving conditions are best not servedand their corresponding data rates are 0. This approach, though, cannotbe used in a real system.

Thus, the “maximum of a minimum data rate” performance measure is analternative approach for achieving a maximum overall system throughput.That is, some low data rate is maintained for mobile stations operatingunder bad receiving conditions. From the system point-of-view, theoverall system throughput is still very high. The goal is that such alow data rate should be as high as possible (i.e., maximum of a minimumdata rate) without significantly sacrificing system throughput.

Multiple antennas can be used for increasing the data rate and qualityby creating parallel spatial channels and enhancing diversity. Themultiple antennas installed on a mobile station can be used for twodifferent purposes when the mobile station receives signals from a basestation: one purpose is for receiving MIMO signals, and the otherpurpose is for suppressing CCI (co-channel interference). CCI is causedby signals transmitted by base stations in neighboring cells that re-usethe frequencies and time slots of the signals transmitted from the basestation to the mobile station in the studied cell.

Using multiple antennas on the mobile station can improve the overallsystem spectral efficiency (bits per second per Hz). When a base stationtransmits M different signals (data streams) to a mobile station (orterminal) that is using multiple antennas for receiving the M signalsusing the same frequency and time slot for each of the M differentsignals and using a different antenna for transmitting each of the Mdifferent signals, the transmission data rate from the base station tothe mobile station can be increased M-fold when the MIMO channel fadingcorrelation is very small. Indeed, the capacity of a link is alwaysmaximized by transmitting M signals using MIMO. If, however, every basestation transmits M signals during any given time slot, the average CCIin the entire cellular network also increases M-fold, which results in ahigher Bit Error Rate (BER) and thus lower system throughput/capacity.

When every base station transmits only one signal in one time slot onone carrier, the multiple antennas on the mobile station can be used forsuppressing CCI. Each antenna on the mobile station amplifies thereceived signal with an “optimal” weight, such that the weightedsummation of all received signals contains the desired signal (i.e., thesignal transmitted from the base station in the studied cell) plus aminimum amount of interfering signals (i.e., signals transmitted fromother base stations in neighboring cells that re-use the frequency andtime slot). Thus, the average signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) can besignificantly increased, which results in much lower BER and thus highersystem throughput. With help of strong CCI suppression using multipleantennas, the cellular network can thus adopt an aggressive frequencyre-use plan such as 1/1. Consequently, the overall system spectralefficiency is improved.

It is, therefore, necessary to balance the use of the multiple antennason a mobile station between use of the multiple antennas for suppressingCCI and use of the multiple antennas for receiving multiple signals. Byadapting the use of the antennas, the data rate is adaptive (i.e.,between 1 and M signals can be transmitted) and the multiple antennascan be used more efficiently. In addition, the method of the presentinvention can also employ dynamic channel assignment, along withadaptive coding and modulation, to improve overall system performance.Channels are assigned dynamically and different channels can besimultaneously assigned for different users permitting the data rate ofthe MIMO system to be adapted to the channel characteristics. Thechannel characteristics are measured, as discussed above.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention using four transmitand four receive antennas (M=4), up to four independent data channels(data streams) can be provided in the same bandwidth. Capacity close tofour times that of a single antenna is possible using the four transmitantennas and four receive antennas.

On average, it has been shown by simulations that, with M=4 and undernormal conditions in cellular networks (before the frequency re-usefactor is driven down to 1), the multiple antennas on the mobile stationshould be used for CCI suppression instead of MIMO signal receptionbecause the spectral efficiency gained by adopting a small frequencyre-use factor due to CCI suppression is greater than that gained by thehigh data rate of MIMO communication.

When every mobile station can dynamically choose to use multipleantennas for CCI suppression, or MIMO reception, or a mixture of both,based on the channel conditions, the overall system throughput can befurther improved. That is, when a mobile station detects that the SINRis high (i.e., there is little interference) and the channel fadingcorrelation is small, the mobile station can request the base station totransmit M signals (i.e., M data streams), each using one antenna of thebase station, and use all M antennas on the mobile station for MIMOreception. When the mobile station detects that the SINR is low (i.e.,there are many interferers) or the channel fading correlation is high,the mobile station can request the base station to transmit one signal(i.e., one data stream) using one antenna or multiple antennas withtransmission diversity, and use all antennas on the mobile station forCCI suppression. When the mobile station detects a moderate SINR (withperhaps only one or two interferers) and a moderate channel fadingcorrelation, the mobile station can request the base station to transmita small number of signals (i.e., data streams) (between 1 and M) usingsome antennas or all antennas with transmission diversity, and use theantennas on the mobile station for both MIMO signal reception and CCIsuppression. Furthermore, if a link strongly interferences with anotherlink, then that the interfering link may reduce the number of MIMOsignals to reduce the effect of interference into the other link,thereby increasing overall system throughput. Thus, the ability to adaptthe use of the antennas for CCI suppression or for MIMO reception andthus to adapt the data rate of the system is central to the presentinvention.

The present invention can be implemented using an exemplary system,which is shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 shows an exemplary cellular network 100that employs a rate-adaptive MIMO communications technique according tothe present invention. Cellular network 100 includes many cells. In, forexample, cell 101, there is a base station 102 and a number of mobilestations, of which only one is shown and is denoted as 103. There are Mantennas installed on base station 102 for transmitting and receiving.Similarly, there are M antennas installed on mobile station 103 fortransmitting and receiving. The desired signals received by mobilestation 103 are the signals transmitted from base station 102. Theinterfering signals received by mobile station 103 are the signalstransmitted from base stations in neighboring cells, such as basestation 104 in cell 105.

Each signal transmitted between base station 102 and mobile station 103adopts an exemplary frame structure, such as shown in FIG. 2 (the framestructure applies to both uplink and downlink frames), in which one timeslot 240 of signal 200 contains a training sequence 201, a payloadsequence 202, a CRC sequence 203, and a control sequence 204. Trainingsequence 201 is used for estimating the channel response between basestation 102 and mobile station 103. Payload sequence 202 is thetransmitted data. CRC sequence 203 is a short sequence generated frompayload sequence 202 that can be used to indicate whether payloadsequence 202 is correctly detected by mobile station 103. Controlsequence 204 contains an automatic retransmission request (ARQ)instruction and a rate-adaptation instruction for future frames that areto be transmitted in the other direction (i.e., if a frame is a downlinkframe, the ARQ instruction and the rate-adaptation instruction areapplied to future uplink frames, and vice versa). The ARQ instructiononly contains either a flag indicating to “transmit a new frame” or theindices of signals that need to be retransmitted (as discussed below).

The rate-adaptation instruction contains the number of signals (datastreams) that are to be transmitted, the modulation methods, and thecoding type and rate.

In the case that rate-adaptive MIMO communication according to thepresent invention is enabled between base station 102 and mobile station103, there are multiple signals (data streams) that are simultaneouslytransmitted in every time slot 240, which are denoted as 210, 220, 230,etc. Each signal is identified by an index number starting from 0. Forexample, if base station 102 uses all M antennas for transmitting Mdifferent signals (data streams), the respective indices of thesesignals are 0, 1, 2, . . . , M−1. As shown in FIG. 2, one time slot 240of each signal includes a training sequence (i.e., 211,221 and 231), apayload sequence (i.e., 212, 222 and 232), a CRC sequence (i.e., 213,223 and 233), and a control sequence (i.e., 204). Note that all thedifferent signals (data streams) have the same control sequence 204.Consequently, the BER for the control sequence can be lowered due to thetransmission diversity.

There are several methods for adapting the MIMO data rate based onchannel conditions. An exemplary method is described below:

(1) At transmission onset, base station 102 preferably transmits onlyone signal (data stream) in a downlink frame to mobile station 103 usinga proper modulation method, such as BPSK or QPSK, and a coding scheme,such as FEC, with a proper coding rate, all of which is pre-determinedbased on the average SINR over the entire system and/or the defaultsystem configuration. The single signal can optionally be transmittedusing either one antenna or multiple antennas with transmissiondiversity; and mobile station 103 uses all M antennas for CCIsuppression.

(2) After receiving the downlink frame, mobile station 103 computes thebest weight for each receive antenna and generates a composite signalthat is the weighted summation of the signals received from eachantenna, such that the mean-squared error (MSE) of the training sequence201 is minimized. Signal decoding is accomplished by performing timingrecovery and symbol synchronization for recovering a transmitted signalsequence.

(3) Based on the composite signal, mobile station 103 decodes thepayload sequence, the CRC sequence, and the control sequence. If thedetected CRC sequence matches the CRC sequence computed from the decodedpayload sequence, which means the payload sequence has been decodedcorrectly, the ARQ instruction in the control sequence in the nextuplink frame is thus set to indicate “transmit next downlink frame.”Otherwise, the ARQ instruction contains the indices of the signals thatneed to be retransmitted. In this case—in which only one signal (datastream) is being transmitted—the index is 0.

(4) Mobile station 103 then estimates whether one more signal (datastream) should be transmitted from base station 102 in the next downlinkframe based on, for example, the estimated SINR and the decodingcorrectness (based on the matched CRC results) for the signal receivedin the previous downlink frame. If the signal is decoded correctly andif the estimated SINR is greater than a preset threshold (whichguarantees a certain BER on average), at least one more signal (datastream) should be transmitted in the next downlink frame using the samemodulation method and coding scheme with the same coding rate. If thesignal is not decoded correctly, the signal should be retransmitted inthe next downlink frame using a simpler modulation technique, a strongercoding scheme, or a lower coding rate. In another case (i.e., the signalis decoded correctly but the estimated SINR is less than the threshold),one signal should be transmitted in the next downlink frame using thesame modulating method and coding scheme with the same coding rate.Additionally or alternatively, the transmission power level can beappropriately adjusted. Mobile station 103 puts the decision (number oftransmitted signals, modulation method, coding scheme, and coding rate)as the rate-adaptation instruction in the control sequence of the nextuplink frame.

(5) Mobile station 103 sends the ARQ instruction and the rate-adaptationinstruction to base station 102 in the control sequence 204 of the nextuplink frame.

(6) After receiving the uplink frame, base station 102 arranges thenumber of signals specified in the uplink control sequence, denoted byN, into a downlink frame (the N signals should contain the retransmittedsignal if the signal was not decoded correctly) using the specifiedmodulation and coding methods and sends the signals to mobile station103 in one time slot simultaneously, each using one of the availabletransmit antennas.

(7) After receiving the downlink frame, which includes N signals (datastreams), mobile station 103 computes the best weight for each receiveantenna and generates a composite signal that is the weighted summationof the signals received from each antenna as an estimate of the ithsignal, denoted as Si(t), such that the MSE(i) of training sequence 201for the transmitted signal Si(t) is minimized.

(8) Based on the composite signal for the transmitted signal Si(t),mobile station 103 decodes the payload sequence, the CRC sequence, andthe control sequence. If the detected CRC sequence matches the CRCsequence computed from the decoded payload sequence, which means thepayload sequence is decoded correctly, the ARQ instruction correspondingto the transmitted signal Si(t) in the control sequence 204 in the nextuplink frame is thus set to signal “transmit next downlink frame.”Otherwise, the ARQ instruction signals “retransmit Si(t) in the nextdownlink frame.” Mobile station 103 repeats step (7) and (8) for everyi=1, 2, . . . , N. After this is done, mobile station 103 can obtain anN×N matrix channel response H(N) for the MIMO channel.

(9) Mobile station 103 then estimates how many signals should betransmitted from base station 102 in the next downlink frame based onthe average SINR, the number of correctly decoded signals, and the MIMOchannel response matrix H(N). Mobile station 103 first studies the rankof the channel response matrix H(N). The rank tells the maximum numberof signals that can be transmitted in the next downlink frame. If thisrank is smaller than N, which means the MIMO channel is correlated, thenumber of transmitted signals in the next downlink frame should bereduced from N to the rank with modulation method, coding scheme, andcoding rate unchanged. If the rank is equal to N, differentrate-adaptive methods will be adopted in the following differentscenarios.

(a) If all signals are decoded correctly and if the average SINR isgreater than the threshold and if N<M, then N+1 signals can betransmitted in the next downlink frame using the same modulation methodor coding scheme with the same coding rate.

(b) If all signals are decoded correctly and if the average SINR isgreater than the threshold and if N=M, then the same number of signals(N) should be transmitted in the next downlink frame using a morecomplex modulation scheme or a weaker coding scheme or a higher codingrate.

(c) If all signals are decoded correctly, but the average SINR is lessthan the threshold, or if more than N/2 signals are decoded correctlyand the average SINR is greater than the threshold, then the same numberof signals (N) should be transmitted in the next downlink frame with thesame modulation method and coding scheme with the same coding rate.

(d) In all other scenarios, the same number of signals (N) should betransmitted in the next downlink frame using simpler modulation methodor stronger coding scheme or lower coding rate. After all of the aboveis done, the mobile station puts the number of signals to be transmittedin the next downlink frame, the modulation method, the coding scheme,and the coding rate as the rate-adaptation instruction into the controlsequence 204 of the next uplink frame. Accordingly, the rate-adaptationinstruction can be a relative-based instruction or an absolute-basedinstruction.

(10) Mobile station 103 sends the ARQ instruction and therate-adaptation instruction to base station 102 in control sequence 204of the next uplink frame.

(11) If the number of transmitted signals in the next time slot is 1, goto step (2); otherwise go to step (6).

The MIMO channel capacity was tested between a laptop having fourtransmit antennas and a base station having four receive antennas. Thetests were conducted on the uplink side rather than on the downlink sideas discussed above. Uplinks and downlinks can be considered mirrorimages of each other.

FIG. 3A is a graph showing the potential capacity of the testedrate-adaptive MIMO system according to the present invention relative toa single antenna system. FIG. 3B is a graph showing the capacitydistribution function (CDF) of the tested rate-adaptive MIMO systemaccording to the present invention as a function of the normalizedcapacity. For FIGS. 3A and 3B, four signals were transmitted from amobile station and all four of the antennas of the base station wereused for MIMO signal reception instead of CCI suppression.

The rate-adaptive MIMO system of present invention was tested using awireless terminal along pedestrian routes and driving routes. Thewireless terminal used four transmit antennas and the base station usedfour receive antennas. FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary mobile station 401having four transmit antennas and an exemplary base station 402 havingfour receive antennas. FIG. 4 also highlights some of the stepsperformed by the present invention, as described above. All of thepedestrian and driving routes used in the test were non-line-of-sightwith the base station.

FIG. 5 is a graph of the test results showing amplitudes as a functionof time for the 16 channels (data streams) between the four transmit andfour receive antennas with a one second average and in which channelpowers are approximately equal for dual-polarized transmit and receiveantennas.

FIG. 6A shows multiple graphs for the test results obtained forpedestrian-based test routes. FIG. 6B shows multiple graphs for the testresults obtained for the driving-based test routes. Each respectivegroup of graphs includes four separate graphs. Each graph in a grouprespectively shows the amplitudes at one receive antenna of the signalstransmitted from the four transmit antennas. The amplitudes of the 16channels shown in each figure are shown with no averaging. As can beseen, the channel characteristics vary for the pedestrian and drivingusers, but the capacities are similar because spatial-averaging reducesthe effects of fading.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary MIMO system architecture 700 according to thepresent invention that uses space-time coding and OFDM techniques. Theleft-most portion of FIG. 7 is a transmission portion 701 and can be abase station or a mobile station because, according to the presentinvention, a base station and a mobile station are essentially mirrorimages of each other. On the transmit side 702 (the left-most side) ofFIG. 7, space-time encoders 705 a and 705 b encode signals b₁[n,k] andb₂[n,k] for forwarding to M inverse fast Fourier transformers (IFFTs)710 a-710 d for transmission over M antennas 715 a-715 d in a multipathenvironment. On the receive side (the right-most side) of FIG. 7, Mantennas 720 a-720 p detect/receive the M transmitted signals andforward the detected/received signals to fast Fourier transformers (FFT)725 a-725 p. The multiple detected/received signals are then forwardedto a space-time processor 730 and to a channel parameter estimator 735.Upon completion of the space-time processing, the processeddetected/received signals are space-time decoded by space-time decoders740 a and 740 b. The decoded processed detected/received signals areoutput to a user and further forwarded to the channel parameterestimator 735 and to the space-time processor 730. The space-timedecoders are further provided with input from the channel parameterestimator 735. In this OFDM system, the number of MIMO channels, as wellas the modulation and coding technique, can be adapted on a frequencytone-by-tone basis to maximize the overall system performance measure.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed and illustrated, it should be noted that the invention is notlimited thereto since modifications may be made by persons skilled inthe art. The present application contemplates any and all modificationsthat fall within the spirit and scope of the underlying inventiondisclosed and claimed herein.

1. A method executed in a mobile station that communicates with a basestation, where said mobile station has multiple antennas and said basestation has M>1 antennas, comprising the steps of: determining channelconditions between said antennas of said mobile station and antennas ofsaid base station; and sending a request to said base station, based onsaid step of determining, to send information coded for Co-Channelinterference (CCI) suppression, Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO)reception, or a mixture of both, which request causes said base stationto send a particular stream of information through all of its multipleantennas when requesting information coded for CCI suppression, and tosend M different streams of information, each over a different one ofits M antennas, when requesting information coded for MIMO reception. 2.The method of claim 1 where, when said step of determining concludes, byperforming comparisons, that Signal-to-Interference-and-Noise Ratio(SINR) is higher than a preselected first threshold and channel fadingcorrelation is lower than a preselected second threshold, said requestis for MIMO reception.
 3. The method of claim 1 where, when said step ofdetermining concludes, by performing comparisons, thatSignal-to-Interference-and-Noise Ratio (SINR) is not higher than apreselected first threshold or channel fading correlation is not lowerthan a preselected second threshold, said request is for CCIsuppression.
 4. The method of claim 1 where when said step ofdetermining concludes, by performing comparisons, thatSignal-to-Interference-and-Noise Ratio (SINR) is higher than apreselected first threshold, and channel fading correlation is lowerthan a preselected second threshold, said request is for MIMO reception;when aid step of determining concludes, by performing comparisons, thatsaid (SINR) is lower than a preselected first threshold, or said channelfading correlation is higher than a preselected second threshold, saidrequest is for CCI suppression; and when said step of determiningconcludes, by performing comparisons, that said (SINR) is moderate, andsaid channel fading correlation is moderate, said request is that saidbase station send a number of streams of information that is between 1and M.